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I'm not an Aggie, obviously, but I went to graduate school in Austin. Texas A&M is a lot like Michigan St. Their biggest rivalry is with Texas, but the reverse is not true. Texas-OU will always be bigger. A&M-Houston/Baylor/TCU/TTU, etc had some heft in the old Southwest Conference days but not so much now. There's a reason A&M wanted out of the Big 12.

I'm not an Aggie, obviously, but I went to graduate school in Austin. Texas A&M is a lot like Michigan St. Their biggest rivalry is with Texas, but the reverse is not true. Texas-OU will always be bigger. A&M-Houston/Baylor/TCU/TTU, etc had some heft in the old Southwest Conference days but not so much now. There's a reason A&M wanted out of the Big 12.

This. One of my good friends I met in Houston went to school at Texas and the Texas mindset is they kind of pay no attention to A&M. Texas-OU is kind of like Carolina-Clemson. A&M fans on the other hand think Texas-A&M is like Carolina-Clemson.

Not fondly.
Texas for sure leads the way in hate.
Most of the others, like tcu and smu for example, it's mostly indifference. The dissolution of the southwest conference lead to that. Tcu and smu still play every year, and now that tcu joined the big 12 they are reunited with teams like texas. But when you talk about Texas, Baylor, and Texas Tech, there is a great deal of dislike from an Aggie standpoint.
But again, it all dwarfs compared to A&M-Texas. As a matter of fact, none of those above teams like the horns. As far as the major colleges go, anyway.

Not fondly.
Texas for sure leads the way in hate.
Most of the others, like tcu and smu for example, it's mostly indifference. The dissolution of the southwest conference lead to that. Tcu and smu still play every year, and now that tcu joined the big 12 they are reunited with teams like texas. But when you talk about Texas, Baylor, and Texas Tech, there is a great deal of dislike from an Aggie standpoint.
But again, it all dwarfs compared to A&M-Texas. As a matter of fact, none of those above teams like the horns. As far as the major colleges go, anyway.

Do all of the Texas schools want to play each other to keep the money instate like USC does with its smaller instate schools? I don't really keep up with scheduling but how often do the big schools (Texas, A&M, Tech, Baylor) schedule a Houston, SMU, Rice?

Very frequently. We are about to finish up a contract with SMU this year that was for four years, and we are playing Rice for the second year in a row. Some of those smaller schools are much bigger pushovers than others, depending on the year. I actually should say smaller programs, because North Texas is probably the third biggest school in the state. They will be a tough test for texas in week 1.

Wife went to grad school at TCU and I'm going in the fall. Most all her fam is out here and went to Tech or SMU (such opposite schools - not sure how that happened). Also have some Baylor friends, my best bud from USMC went to Houston and Rice was my wife's first choice for grad...but Ft Worth (TCU) > Houston (Rice)...not even close.

We pretty much go to all the TCU home games and some of the SMU games since we have lots of connections there, too (looking forward to getting down to Baylor's new place this fall also). Been to UT's and TAMU's places as well.

None of that answers your question, though. My roommate frosh year at USC was from TX and ended up transferring to TAMU and finished up there plus I served with many, many Aggies (worst boss ever was an Aggie). Everybody has pretty much already said it - TAMU hates UT, UT hates OU. Overall I prob have more OU fans than any and they truly hate UT...the Red River Rivalry is a strong one.

Being mostly affiliated with TCU, I can say TAMU prob cares less about them or any of the other privates from the SWC days, except maybe Baylor. Then again the "Brazos River Rivalry" is sorta like the others...Baylor cares, but TAMU doesn't. Same with SMU/TCU. Its SMU's Super Bowl and TCU cares less each year - see a pattern?

In gen'l the one thing all the schools agree on is hating UT. That is pretty solid. Since TAMU left, I know people here in the DFW market are tired of hearing the increased SEC talk - I'm, of course, very happy they joined and will be our western division "rival".

With everyone knowing I'm a Gamecock (I've got a Gamecock fathead helmet sticker in my gym), I get asked my opinion of the TX schools a lot. So here's my take on the fanbases, as far as comparisons we can understand.

TAMU = Clemson. For better or worse, the schools, the fanbases, etc. are very similar. Very.

UT = like most other nat'l traditional powers (SoCal, Bama, etc.). Everybody knows them and they have an army of T-shirt fans, but lots of people hate them, too.

Houston, UTEP, UNT = nobody cares

Rice = actually a decent program especially considering the school size and academic standards - and if you dig into it, they are one of the last athletic depts doing it the right way. Obvious comparison is Duke, without Cameron Indoor. Fanbase is full of unicorns.

SMU = STILL getting out from under the death penalty (and my opinion why Penn State got a slap on the wrist). My opinion, especially with Larry Brown is they want to be a b-ball school, which is much more feasible with their location, size, etc. Very nice (small) stadium and "boulevarding" as they call tailgating is the best I've seen outside the SEC. Snob factor is off-the-charts, though. Emory or the University of the South - if they had football.

Baylor = sorta the tweener. Private but large, high standards, but not on par with the other privates. I personally like Waco - the rest of the world hates it. The last few years have shown the potential their athletic dept has - I don't think its going away. 2nd to Tech on the crappy fans list, though. I hope we aren't like them, although I know some of our new Gamecock fans are - the recent wins don't mean you should talk so much sh*t.

TCU = obvious pretty heavy bias on my part. Love the school, and the way Patterson runs the football program. Uphill climb with the larger state schools in recruiting, etc.

To wrap up my thesis - back to the TAMU part. I'd say other than the traditional hate toward UT, they are solely focused on starting fresh with SEC rivalries and don't care much about in-state schools.

__________________"A nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its laws made by cowards and its wars fought by fools." - Thucydides

Oh, I agree. TCU/SMU use to be a nice little rivalry but with TCU in the Big 12 the majority of their fans I know want to drop the game - WTF? Play somebody 100 years then just toss 'em. I don't get that - I want to see OU/Nebraska again, too.

__________________"A nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its laws made by cowards and its wars fought by fools." - Thucydides

Texas: Imagine the single most obnoxious, annoying, self-righteous, arrogant, and douche bag person you've ever met....times it by 100...that would equate to the average longhorn fan. No doubt they've had great success, but they make it sound like the built Rome in a day. They won two conference titles in the BCS era...what gods they are!

Texas Tech: Trashier than lsu fans...seriously! They throw batteries, tortillas, drinks, etc. at apposing fans. Just think West Texas trailor trash and you have a Tech Fan.

Baylor: F*cking Baylor. A true bottom feeder that every body looks down upon. Equate them to peasants. Although, I really do miss playing them and the entire stadium chanting "YOU'RE STILL BAYLOR"....ha never gets old

TCU: This is were we got the term Gig'Em from...Not a true national rivalry but definitely was a good one in the past.

Rice: Don't care!

SMU: I just feel bad for them. The death penalty destroyed what was once a great football school.

Houston: They definitely hate us now since we took their coach. But hey, that's the world of college sports.

UTEP: Love playing them. All teams need that easy W

North Texas: Actually field a pretty good team. No rivalry w/them tho.

All that being said, just about every school in Texas hates the other school. Especially Texas and Texas A&M. Texas for their arrogant fans and A&M b/c of their hardcore fans/traditions despite not having the most success. I can see how outsiders think A&M is weird, but we're not. We just love our university and show support whether we're doing great or not. Something none of the other Texas schools can claim!